That TIme of the Month
by JantoJones
Summary: Owen gets an insight into female suffering.


**WARNING - If you're a man, you may want to avoid this story. Also, you may think I'm exaggerating some of Gwen's symptoms, but I can assure you that I experience some or all of them every month)**

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Gwen glanced across to the passenger seat, where Owen was turning the brooch over and over in his hands.

"Why are you bothered?" she asked him. "Jack's the one paying for it."

They'd been to an auction on a tip off from Ianto, who monitored auctions for anything potentially alien. This time he'd come across an object which had been catalogued as 'Decorative brooch (clasp broken). Unknown grey metal inset with unknown yellow stones'. Ianto had shown it to Jack, who had recognised it as Grevliac technology. Gwen and Owen had been dispatched, with a Torchwood credit card, to buy the brooch. Jack hadn't been able to identify the function of the piece.

"These must be controls of some sort," The medic mumbled as he ran his finger over the yellow stones.

There were nine in total and all were the same shape and size, laid out in an irregular pattern. Owen pushed on the stones but they didn't push in, so he started rubbing them randomly. After a few seconds, he felt a tingle in his fingers which spread to his spine, causing him to shudder involuntarily. Next to him, Gwen also shuddered.

"Oops"

Gwen looked sharply over at him. "What do you mean 'Oops'?"

By the time they arrived back at the hub, Owen was feeling terrible. He gave the artefact to Ianto to be archived, and then slumped down on the sofa.

"You look like shit," commented Ianto.

"I feel like it."

Ianto raised an eyebrow at Owen's lack of comeback, but decided against pushing it. Jack wandered through from his office.

"Did you get it?"

Owen nodded before lying down fully. "I think it may have done something to me."

"What did you do?" Jack demanded, immediately suspicious.

Gwen told him of Owen's button pressing experiments and their shared shudder.

"Has it affected you?" The Captain asked her.

She shook her head and shrugged.

"I've been feeling crap for a couple of days," she said. "I'm on my period."

Jack grinned his biggest, brightest grin and turned back to Owen.

"Describe your symptoms for me Owen. In detail."

Owen looked at the captain quizzically. "Erm... Stomach cramps, kidney pain, nausea, fever, headache and cold sweats."

Jack turned back to Gwen, who was also smiling.

"And the symptoms of your period?"

"Stomach cramps, kidney pain, nausea, fever, headache and cold sweats."

Jack laughed so hard that tears formed in his eyes.

"It seems as though you experiencing the same things as Gwen." he finally managed to say. "If memory serves, the Grevliacs used to punish those convicted of serious assault, by forcing them to experience the pain they'd inflicted."

Owen clutched his stomach and moaned, slightly too dramatically.

"It must be amplified." he whinged.

"No." Jack told him. "You're getting exactly what Gwen is feeling."

"I'll be back in a minute," Gwen told them as she headed off towards the toilet.

Jack took the brooch from Ianto, threw it to Toshiko and instructed her to figure it out. She had to work out how to shut it off for Owen and Gwen's sakes.

Suddenly, Owen sat bolt upright and started dry heaving. It lasted for about two minutes and left him panting heavily.

"Fuck, I guess she just threw up."

He couldn't understand how Gwen managed to put up with it all. Especially, the weird churning sensation in his intestines. The sharp stabbing sensation on the right side of his abdomen was no fun either. When Gwen came back she apologised to Owen for throwing up.

"I couldn't help it." she told him.

"Why did it burn my throat?"

"Because it wasn't vomit. It was bile."

Despite Owen's medical expertise, the female menstrual cycle was still mysterious to him. He knew what it was for and how it happened, but he couldn't understand the pain and discomfort. How did women do this every month? He'd heard many women complaining about it but always assumed they were exaggerating to get sympathy.

Three hours later, Owen was almost crying. The pain in his kidneys was intense and the constant churning sensation was driving him insane. Gwen had also vomitted twice more but didn't show any outward signs that she was feeling any of the stuff he was. How was this?

"I've been doing this every four weeks for twenty years," Gwen explained to him. "I got used to it."

Thankfully, Tosh figured out the workings of the brooch fairly quickly. She announced that she was in a position to try and reverse it. She called Jack and Ianto to watch and rubbed some of the stones. Owen's pain immediately disappeared.

Shortly afterwards, Owen took Gwen a cup of chamomile and ginger tea at her workstation. He left it with her without saying a word, he just smiled in understanding. She smiled back and wondered how long his knew found empathy would last.


End file.
